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WonderHistory fact

New College, Oxford, gave its 14th-century hall a new open oak roof in 1865, built with timber from woodland the college had owned for centuries. A famous story says the oaks had been planted long before for that very roof, but the college's records do not support it.

New College oaks

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The story behind the card

New College was founded in 1379, and by the end of the 18th century its hall's original open oak roof had been hidden behind a ceiling. After the students' Junior Common Room offered £1,000 towards restoring it, work on today's roof began in 1865 under the architect George Gilbert Scott. The popular version of the story, told by the anthropologist Gregory Bateson and retold in many books since, has a college forester reveal that oaks were planted at the founding for exactly this day. The college's records do not bear that out. What they show is less magical but still impressive: an institution that kept and managed its woodland for centuries simply had good oak to hand when it needed it.

Türkçe oku
Oxford'daki New College, 14. yüzyıldan kalma yemek salonuna 1865'te açık bir meşe çatı yaptırdı; kereste, kolejin yüzyıllardır sahip olduğu ormanlardan geldi. Meşhur bir hikâyeye göre bu meşeler çok önceden tam da bu çatı için dikilmişti, ama kolejin kayıtları bunu doğrulamıyor.

New College 1379'da kuruldu; salonun özgün açık meşe çatısı ise 18. yüzyılın sonunda bir tavanın arkasına gizlenmişti. Öğrenci birliği Junior Common Room onarım için 1.000 sterlin vermeyi önerince, bugünkü çatının yapımına 1865'te mimar George Gilbert Scott'ın yönetiminde başlandı. Antropolog Gregory Bateson'ın anlattığı, sonra pek çok kitapta tekrarlanan meşhur hikâyede kolejin ormancısı, bu meşelerin kuruluş yıllarında tam da bu gün için dikildiğini açıklar. Kolejin kayıtları bunu doğrulamıyor. Kayıtların gösterdiği şey daha sıradan ama yine de etkileyici: Ormanlarını yüzyıllar boyunca elinde tutan ve bakımını yapan bir kurumun, ihtiyaç duyduğunda kullanacak iyi meşesi de vardı.

Sources and further reading

Background reading: New College, Oxford
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